Peasant with His Dog c. 1645 - 1656

Allart van Everdingen created this print, "Peasant with His Dog," using etching, a process that democratized image-making in the 17th century. An etcher covers a metal plate with a waxy ground, then scratches an image into it with a needle, before bathing the plate in acid to bite the exposed lines. The plate is then inked and printed. The material conditions of etching influenced its aesthetic. Because the artist works indirectly, the final product has a distinctive character, a kind of graphic shorthand. The landscape is suggested with minimal strokes, and yet the scene is vivid. Consider the labor involved: from the skilled hand of the etcher, to the press operator, to the paper-maker. Each contributes to the final artwork. Prints like these were often made for mass consumption, affordable to a wide audience, not just wealthy patrons. By focusing on the materials and processes of its making, we see this print not just as a pretty landscape, but as a product of a complex economic and social system.